UP: Hospitals run out of beds as winter's onset marks spike in fever complaints

LUCKNOW: As cases of high-grade fever, including dengue, continue to rise, most government hospitals are jam-packed or running short of beds. Some are even referring patients to other hospitals while a few have had to arrange for extra beds.

Most patients come with complaints of high-grade fever, joint and muscle pain, headache, sore throat, chest congestion and weakness. Apart from dengue, there are cases of malaria, chikungunya, typhoid and viral fever.

Director of SPM Civil hospital Dr D S Negi said that all the 55 beds in the fever ward and 15 beds reserved for dengue were full. Now, they are referring new patients to other hospitals. "The number of such patients has doubled since Diwali to 24 per day," he added.

Chief medical superindent of Balrampur hospital Dr Rishi Saxena said, "We had reserved 18 beds for fever and dengue patients but have added 10 because the number of cases requiring immediate admission has increased from 3 daily to 7 in the last week of October."

Similarly, in charge of medicine emergency unit at Trauma Centre of KGMU Dr D Himanshu said, "We were admitting two high-fever patients daily till October, but now, the number has gone up to 10." Spokesperson of Lohia hospital Dr Vikram Singh said the number of high fever patients who require admission has increased by 20% in the past few days.

"Rainfall in September-end, followed by high temperatures in October made conditions favourable for pathogens causing viral fever and breeding of mosquitoes which cause dengue and malaria," said Dr Amita Jain, the head of microbiology department at KGMU.